Stephen King and Steven Spielberg teamed up awhile back to bring King’s Under the Dome story to a TV network for a limited series. Now that story has found a home on Showtime, which is really for the best because now they can do anything they want without being constrained by the rules of network television. The story of Under The Dome may sound a little dumb because the same sort of thing happened in the Simpsons Movie, but I’m sure that King was writing his book before the Simpsons Movie was released… hopefully.

Basically there is a small town in Maine where a force field dome of unknown origin covers the town, sealing them off from the outside world. What happens next is a deterioration of relationships between the townsfolk as they break up into warring factions. I’d classify the story as an extended version of the King short story The Mist where townsfolk slowly begin to turn on one another, stuck inside a supermarket due to the horrible monsters lurking in the unnatural mists outside. The threat is a lot different in this book, but the concept is basically the same, showing how malicious ordinary people can be in dire circumstances when there is no order.

By the way, I would never want to live in Maine if all of King’s books were real, there is some jacked up $hit that happens in that state, especially in the small towns. To me, the ending reveal of exactly what is causing the dome was awesome. Some may find it foolish, but it all depends on what you like from a King book, whether it be supernatural, extra terrestrial or governmental. Either way I think the series will be excellent on Showtime and can’t wait to hear about casting when it starts.